South Park Creators Given Signed Photo of Saddam Hussein 1297
Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park, were given a very special gift by US marines: a signed photo of Saddam Hussein. During his captivity, the marines forced Saddam to repeatedly watch the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, which shows him as the boyfriend of Satan. Stone said, "We're very proud of our signed Saddam picture and what it means. It's one of our biggest highlights."
Little Kim probably watched Team America (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Technically, the past tense of the word "hang" in regards to the execution of a person is "hanged," not "hung."
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Huh. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:hilarious (Score:5, Informative)
Saddam Hussein was a bad guy for sure, but that whole shredder thing was a classic example of an inflammatory story that is later proved false in the run up to a war.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2004/feb/25/iraq.iraqandthemedia [guardian.co.uk]
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:hilarious (Score:5, Informative)
This has been pretty thoroughly debunked, actually:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein's_alleged_shredder [wikipedia.org]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2004/feb/25/iraq.iraqandthemedia [guardian.co.uk]
And nobody is fooled except the people who modded up your post.
Re:hilarious (Score:5, Informative)
And the United States were the ones who propped him up in there, gave him weapons, and ignored him until he was of use.
Re:hilarious (Score:1, Informative)
Errata Re:Huh. (Score:1, Informative)
Considering how the Baath party of Iraq (as well as the still in power Baath party of Syria) are pan-arabic national socialist parties they are a whole lot closer to the Vichy regime (and other national socialists) than anyone else involved.
After all there is a reason why a lot of (but not absolutely all) nazis (and particularly in Germany) were against the US invasion of Iraq.
However most people wouldn't know this shit if it hit them between the eyes so your ignorance is excused.
As for principles I'll take a single botched hanging over the rather large mass graves created by Hussein any day and I know an awful lot of Iraqis agree. Perhaps you should identify which side you're actually on? The people patting you on your back might not be the kind of people you would want to be associated with if you like to think of yourself as a righteous or principled individual.
If you don't get it go read Orwell's political non-fictional commentary.
Nelson Mandela liked to use? (Score:3, Informative)
His wife at the time Winnie, however is an evil ****. I seem to remember she had her 'football team' of goons, who were alleged to have been involved with all manner of enforcement/infighting within the ANC at the time. I believe she also condoned the use of necklacing for collaborators.
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/ICRC_Report_on_the_Treatment_of_Fourteen_%22High_Value_Detainess%22_in_CIA_Custody%2C_14_Feb_2007 [wikileaks.org]
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
I have read about botched hangings and they can be pretty horrific.
For the audience, maybe. Having your head torn off will result in unconsciousness just as quickly as having your neck broken, but it's a bit harder for the audience to stomach. Moral of the story: If you can't watch people die, don't attend a fscking execution.
Lethal injection at least it seems like a painless death.
Yes, if you count consciously witnessing yourself suffocate because your diaphragm is paralyzed as "painless". Of course, the audience won't notice any of this, so it's fairly painless to them.
Re:Huh. (Score:4, Informative)
We ostensibly invaded Iraq to liberate its people and bring them democracy.
No we didn't! We invaded because we were told they had WMDs and they were a threat to us. Only after the invasion did the reasons turn to "democracy".
Re:Huh. (Score:3, Informative)
A broken neck is the intended outcome of the long drop, and there's a formula for calculating the length of the drop based on the weight of the condemned. In the event of a miscalculation it can go both ways. Too short a drop, and strangulation can occur; too long a drop, and as in the case of Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, decapitation can occur.
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Lethal injection at least it seems like a painless death.
It is reasonable to believe that this is the case but it would appear you are mistaken. I urge everyone to watch the BBC Horizon (a stellar science documentary series) programme entitled "How to Kill a Human Being":
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/executions/ [bbc.co.uk]
In this programme, the narrator Michael Portillo goes on a search for a humane method of execution, and finds that it is more difficult than it would first appear. He discovers evidence that the lethal injection, if botched, can cause agonising pain that makes your flesh feel as if on fire. Of course, there are some, including the creator of this execution method interviewed in the programme, who believe that is a feature and not a bug. Hanging and the gas chamber are also examined, and these are not perfect, either.
As a conclusion, Portillo discovers a method that seems to be perfect for carrying out humane executions: nitrogen. While undergoing nitrogen intoxication as an experiment, Portillo is feeling euphoric while being seconds from death. Naturally, such a method, if implemented, would be strongly criticised by those who combine capital punishment with fantasies of revenge and view painless executions as unnecessary or even counter to the ideals behind the death penalty.
Re:Huh. (Score:2, Informative)
Not to say I don't feel your pain (I have a profound hatred of all Xmas music having worked in bars/restuarants over the festive period for several years) but if you can't see there's a fairly major difference between hearing an advertising jingle played during your work hours and having something played at loud volume 24 hours a day (with resultant sleep depreviation and all that comes with it) then I think it's you that's lacking perspective. Of course doing the latter can have a seriously detrimental physchological and physiological effect. Do you think the US army blasted AC/DC at Noriega as a favour to a rock fan?
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:This has gotta be... (Score:3, Informative)
"On Parker's office wall is a signed photo of Saddam Hussein, gifted to him by the US Army's 4th Infantry Division. During his time in captivity, Hussein was apparently shown the 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, in which he's depicted as gay, and enjoying intercourse with the devil, repeatedly. "I have it on pretty good information from the marines on detail in Iraq that they showed him the movie," says Stone. "That's really adding insult to injury."
Could be a ruse by Matt Stone, I wouldn't put it past them.
Re:Huh. (Score:1, Informative)
Its not so much that an American can sue McDonalds for coffee that's offensive. It is thatMcDonalds could raise the temperature of coffee to a highly dangerous point knowing the 190F/87C temperature would cause 3rd degree burns in about 2-5 seconds. The lady in question was in the hospital burn ward for a week recoving from the 3rd degree burns to her groin and thighs. The "extreme" punitive damages ordered by the jury were the profits McDonalds made on their coffee in 2 days. The plaintiff originally had offered to settle for $20,000. And McDonals had already gone through this exact scenario hundreds of times with people who had suffered severe burns from their coffee.
British don't love crappy food, but they do have it, which is why Indian food [bbc.co.uk] has taken over the country.
Finns can still code neat kernels while drunk. And they drink a lot [icenews.is].
Russians are commies, or did you miss the whole rise to power of Vladimir Putin and his embrace of communist symbols [thenewamerican.com].
And Germany is still struggling with right wing groups espousing Nazi views [bbc.co.uk].
Re:Errata Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
You're just playing word games here, most of the nazis in Europe were/are for the invasion of Iraq, just like most of them hate all Arabs.
Forget the Iraqis, the entire World (except the United States) was against Iraq when they gassed the Kurds (in 1988). The gassing of the Kurds was reported on the front page of every major newspaper in Europe (and probably the world). In the US, that particular piece of news got buried. The UN was even going to impose sanctions, but the US vetoed it -- protecting their ally. And finally, the US even loaned Iraq one billion dollars shortly thereafter (if not three billion dollars, I forget the exact number) that Iraq never paid back.
Now I realize that you consider the United States the benevolent father/policeman of the World, but for a benevolent father it's sure sending out mixed messages. When you punish someone, you're supposed to do it right after the act -- not wait fifteen years (and never mind the active protection and lobbying the United States did for Iraq during that time period when the entire World was against them).
Careful (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Huh. (Score:4, Informative)
For pets places that do an injection may do it in two stages, first a sedative then the poison to stop the heart. For small animals, dogs and cats, they may use a single injection that contains both; the chemicals used for this would require an impracticlly large amount for larger animals.
For humans executions in the States it is a 3 stage process, first a sedative, then an injection to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest, then an injection to stop the heart.
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
They told him he was going to hell and other insults. Then when he tried to give his last words, a short prayer, they pulled the lever in the middle of it, then cheered some more. It was less like an execution and more like a lynch mob [bbc.co.uk].
Re:Huh. (Score:3, Informative)
"Getting a bullet through the head does NOT mean you die"
Depends on the bullet. One that's big enough will remove most of your head. One that's small enough will repeatedly ricochet off the inside of your skull, turning your brain into mush. In both cases, death is pretty much guaranteed. It's the in-between rounds that cause problems.
Re:hilarious (Score:3, Informative)
And neither do political activists. I'll have to give the benefit of the doubt to the people that were actually there instead of those looking to discredit a government for the selfish purposes.
I was in Kuwait in 1990 and 1991 during the Gulf War and saw firsthand the atrocities that Hussein caused. He deserved far worse than a movie and a hanging.
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Huh. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Huh. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Errata Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
You're just playing word games here, most of the nazis in Europe were/are for the invasion of Iraq, just like most of them hate all Arabs.
Forget the Iraqis, the entire World (except the United States) was against Iraq when they gassed the Kurds (in 1988). The gassing of the Kurds was reported on the front page of every major newspaper in Europe (and probably the world). In the US, that particular piece of news got buried. The UN was even going to impose sanctions, but the US vetoed it -- protecting their ally. And finally, the US even loaned Iraq one billion dollars shortly thereafter (if not three billion dollars, I forget the exact number) that Iraq never paid back.
Now I realize that you consider the United States the benevolent father/policeman of the World, but for a benevolent father it's sure sending out mixed messages. When you punish someone, you're supposed to do it right after the act -- not wait fifteen years (and never mind the active protection and lobbying the United States did for Iraq during that time period when the entire World was against them).
The news wasn't at all buried in the United States. It was all over the newspapers. We even talked about it in elementary school that year. the United States isn't a homogenized nation that uniformly supports the current regime, whoever it may be.
Re:Huh. (Score:1, Informative)
Actually the woman sued because the coffee was OVERLY hot. It was not a frivolous lawsuit (like many, many others we have in the US...), in fact, the Plaintiff only wanted McDonald's to cover her medical costs (~$8,000)initially, but the company only offered only $800 US, then she sued.
The woman's attorneys discovered that McDonald's required franchises to serve coffee at 180â"190 ÂF (82â"88 ÂC). At that temperature, the coffee would cause a third-degree burn in two to seven seconds.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants )
Most people have the wrong idea about that case. Mainly the fact that McDonald's was looking to make some extra money (go figure), by increasing the water temp on their coffee to make that pot go further...
The funny thing is, most people think she got millions of dollars out of this case, and even though, that from 1982 to 1992 the company had received more than 700 reports of people burned by McDonald's coffee to varying degrees of severity, and had settled claims arising from scalding injuries for more than $500,000, she eventually settled out of court with McDonald's for a grand total of...wait for it...
"an undisclosed amount less than $600,000."
(Even though the Jury initially awarded almost $3,000,000, but it was reduced by the judge several times and appealed, etc., so they HAD to settle out of court...)
(Sorry had to throw in my two cents worth...it's a bone of contention here where I work, at a litigation support firm...)
Re:Huh. (Score:2, Informative)
The FBI will pass up chances to infiltrate (or put less effort into) VIOLENT groups like the KKK, fringe anti-abortion groups which equate bombing of clinics with freeing Nazi concentration cam prisoners, and militias and para-military groups which flout federal law.
Is that documented too? Could you please post the link?
Re:See: Michael Portillo (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Much like your post. We're "soft" "cream puffs". Get over yourself. There's a lot we don't understand about human psychology, but I'm sure there's an unpleasant reason why they use non-stop loud music. I'm willing to believe that the long-term consequences of months of non-stop noise can be worse than those from twenty minutes of simulated drowning.
Re:Huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Let's try to keep this in some perspective. He was forced to watch a movie that a lot of the rest of the world paid good money to see.
The man murdered people by the thousands. He was put to death by hanging. There's a a lot of injustice, immorality, pain and suffering in that range.
I refuse to accept flushing the Koran or being forced to watch a movie which ridicules you, fits the definition of torture. If that is, then K-12 is state enforced torture for children, because honestly it's far worse and far more personal and you don't even get the escape of sweet, sweet death (usually).
Thumbscrews, electrocution, iron maidens, anything involving fingernails...then we can talk.
Re:Huh. (Score:4, Informative)
In the state that has the most executions in the United States: Texas, they perform all their executions with doctors because of a rule in the state where an autopsy would have to be performed on the person who was executed if a doctor isn't doing it.
I'm not sure what kind of doctors they actually get to perform it, and if they were anaesthesiologists, I don't want them administering MY anasthesia if *I* were in Texas. I like doctors who adhere to that oath they have to take, y'know the one I mean, that says "First, do no harm".
Re:Huh. (Score:3, Informative)
Pfft, we've been doing that to recognized diplomats since the 1980s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega#Capture [wikipedia.org]
Re:Coffee cups aren't meant for lap-holders (Score:3, Informative)
Never mind that a court later rejected this claim to be false...
Never mind that home coffee brewers produce coffee at comparable temperatures...
Never mind that the National Coffee Assc. recommends brew temps between 190-205 degrees and maintenance temps above 180.
But let's not let FACTS get in the way.
Re:Saddams' dead Iraqis vs US/UK dead Iraquis. (Score:3, Informative)
The count for Saddam was approximately 2 million if you count the million plus killed during his 8 year war of aggression against Iran.
If you count the dead in Iran-Iraq War against Saddam, you have to count them against U.S. as well, since it effectively supported Iraq in that war [wikipedia.org].
Re:Coffee cups aren't meant for lap-holders (Score:3, Informative)
You want to talk about the facts? Ok. Here's some insight for you: the temperature at which coffee is brewed is not the temperature at which it should be served or consumed. Coffee should be brewed at approximately 96 to 98 degrees Celsius. Drinking it at that temperature would, however, be incredibly stupid.
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0305417907002550 [elsevier.com]
The burn model shows the standard exponential dependence of injury level on temperature. The preferred drinking temperature of coffee is specified in the literature as 140 +/- 15 deg F (60 +/- 8.3 deg C) for a population of 300 subjects. A linear (with respect to temperature) figure of merit merged the two effects to identify an optimal drinking temperature of approximately 136 deg F (57.8 deg C).
Still don't believe me? Well, find some sources, because all the ones I find indicate that water at temperatures of 150 degrees and upward can cause serious burns in a mere 2 seconds.
http://www.texaschildrenspediatrics.org/healthlibrary/pa_hotwatr_hhg.aspx [texaschild...atrics.org]
http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/HealthAZ/Burn-Safety-Hot-Water-Temperature.aspx?articleID=8652&categoryID=AZ6d [aboutkidshealth.ca]
http://www.cpnonline.org/CRS/CRS/pa_hotwatr_pep.htm [cpnonline.org]
http://www.ct.gov/dds/cwp/view.asp?a=12&q=379294 [ct.gov]
http://www.tap-water-burn.com/pamphlet/water_use.htm [tap-water-burn.com]
Re:Huh. (Score:4, Informative)
They signed in 1956 [icrc.org]. Nice try.